EPA Can't Override Ala. Air Quality Rule, 11th Circ. Says

Law360, New York (March 6, 2013, 6:38 PM EST) -- The Eleventh Circuit ruled in a split decision Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority when it rejected Alabama's opacity regulations and imposed federal standards, concluding that the EPA failed to properly justify its action under the Clean Air Act.

Because the EPA initially approved the state implementation plan in 2008 before reversing course and rejecting the SIP in 2011 in response to an environmental challenge brought by the Sierra Club and other groups, the agency needed to show that it made a...